Twice
by SingBenihime
Summary: Harry can't sleep. "...and I knew you two would be in here tonight, so I just thought I'd join you…if that's alright of course?" Harry   Werewolf!Remus   Sirius.


_A/N - perhaps not one of my best fics, but I liked the idea of it. :) Also, sorry if Harry and Sirius are a bit OOC, I haven't written them before._

_Enjoy~_

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><p>As he put his ear softly to the door, the muffled sounds coming from inside the locked room paused. Harry sucked in a breath – could the creature on the other side smell him? Harry was sure it, <em>he<em>, wouldn't have heard him. After all, he was absolutely silent as he pulled the thick quilt off of him and got out of his bed, being extra careful not to wake Ron. He was very quiet walking down the stairs, and even quieter as he crept along the deserted hallway. He could barely hear his own footsteps.

It didn't matter. However it, _no, he_, sensed him wasn't the problem now. Harry had thought that he could have snuck in without awaking them in the room. Or perhaps his godfather was still asleep; he couldn't hear any barks or padded feet or anything that sounded remotely like a tame dog. In fact, he still couldn't hear anything at all. Had it, _he, for Merlins sake, HE, _possibly moved away from the door yet?

Gathering up his courage, Harry grasped the door knob and turned it. Slowly, so slowly, he opened the door, etching around it as he did so. A dark room greeted him at first, though another glance revealed the room was strung with posters of Muggle girls in bikinis and lean, sleek bikes. Harry bit back a grin, for Sirius had told him about his room and how it seemed to defy everything The Most Noble House of Black stood for. Glints of gold and red flashed in the corner of Harry's eyes, and he turned to look at the faded colours of a Gryffindor banner. He stepped forwards towards the patriotic banners and flags, a small smile upon his face as fond thoughts of his fellow Gryffindors crept into his mind. As if the room was responding to his thoughts, his eyes came across old pictures of young boys. He crept closer to the wall, letting the door swing softly behind him. He was smiling now as he leant forward and inspected the photos; his dad, James Potter, tousling his hair as usual, his glasses lopsided and his arms around his friends on either side of him, pulling them closer and laughing roguishly; his godfather, Sirius himself, effortlessly graceful and handsome, lounging even though he was standing up, occasionally glancing sideways and grinning as though responding to his name being called or mentioned; Peter Pettigrew, the traitor, hanging onto Sirius' arm and swinging back and forth, occasionally leaning forward and looking sideways to watch his friends, a twitchy smile on his lips; and Remus Lupin, his teacher and, sometimes, guide, smiling as James pulled him closer and ruffled his hair, the book he was clasping falling to the ground in the assault from James, his face pale and peaky with dark rings under his eyes. Harry felt a squirm in his stomach – had it been the full moon that night before?

Suddenly, he remembered where he was. He turned around, stumbling in his haste, looking around the room quickly. His eyes latched onto a big, black mass in the corner of the room, underneath the windowsill. Sirius. And from the sounds of his canine snores, he was fast asleep. Harry started towards his godfather. The bear-like dog that was Sirius made no move whatsoever, apart from breathing deeply. Harry grinned ruefully at the sight of his animalistic godfather and felt his heart slow down a little. But his mind clicked back as to what he was actually looking for and he scanned the room again: nothing.

Nothing, that is, until something wet and cold pushed against the small of his back.

Harry yelped and jumped forwards. He spun around, but whatever, or _whoever_ was the culprit, had slunk back into the shadows. Suddenly, there was something like a groan behind him; Harry turned around again, his wand now aloft. "Lumos!"

The wand lit up and a tunnel of bright light spilled into the room. Dust floated visibly in the light of the spell, the trail continuing as Harry directed the beam into the corner of the room, where the big, black dog had once been. In its place, however, now stood Sirius as a human, his eyes wary and alert and his body tense. He relaxed when he saw Harry and let a smile appear on his face.

Harry lowered his wand and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry if I blinded you."

"No, no, it's fine. You woke me up good and proper there," said Sirius, smiling fondly at his godson. He paused and then looked around the room. "Remus? Oi, Remus, where are you? Harry's come to say hi!"

When he got no reply, his eyes narrowed and he addressed Harry. "Have you seen that sneaky wolf at all on your little expedition in here?"

"No," replied Harry. Suddenly, he was struck with realisation. "Unless he was the one who put something cold and wet against my back…" A thought popped up. "His nose?"

As if in answer, something cold and wet nudged at the back on his hand. Harry jumped again and looked down, curving round slightly to see the perpetrator. He smiled a little nervously when he saw who the culprit was.

"Remus!" exclaimed Sirius joyfully, looking all the part of a doting best friend. Or perhaps a doting wife. "Remus, buddy, there you are!"

He rushed forwards to nudge the wolf's head, still mainly shrouded in darkness from the shadows behind Harry. He pushed against its, _his_, muzzle with his palm and kept it there, as he continued his one-way conversation. "I was wondering where you were. Have you had any sleep at all? Or can't you sleep again? Well, I know I've had a good rest. Until Harry woke me up, that is." He glanced at Harry, peering inquisitively at him. "Why did you wake me up? Do you need help with something? I'd be glad to help you in the morning, Harry, but…"

Harry cut him off guiltily. "No, no, I…I just couldn't sleep and I knew it was the full moon tonight, and…"

The werewolf behind him shied away slightly.

"No, I don't mean it like that, Professor!" said Harry quickly, "I meant that I knew you two would be in here, so I just thought I'd join you…if that's alright of course?"

Nobody said anything for a few seconds. Harry looked at Sirius, and Sirius looked at Remus. Finally, a small growl issued from the werewolf, which alarmed Harry but comforted Sirius.

"I'll take that as a yes from Remus," said Sirius simply as he removed his hand from his friend's muzzle and turned to Harry. He placed his hands upon his godson's shoulders. "I'll have to wake you up before Remus transforms back though, and get you back to your own bed. It's not something a boy like you should see." He saw Harry start to interrupt. "I know you've seen him transform _into _a werewolf, but transforming back is just as hard, and I don't want you to see it twice." Sirius suddenly grinned. "And so long as you don't mind sitting in a room with two dogs?"

Harry laughed, and he felt all of the tension run out of his body. "Yeah, no, that's fine. I always wanted dogs when I was younger anyway."

Sirius let out a bark like laugh and turned back to Remus. "Stop sulking in the shadows and come join us."

This was the part that had made Harry's palms sweat when he had first thought about visiting the two men. Considering the first and only time he had seen a werewolf was when his own Professor had tried to kill him, it was normal to be nervous about seeing said same werewolf again, albeit on Wolfsbane Potion. Harry comforted himself on that fact again and walked to Sirius' side, his eyes on the skulking beast lurking in the dark.

Slowly, Remus crept out of the shadows. As tall as he was thin, his werewolf form was just as pitiful and terrifying as it had been on the grounds of Hogwarts two years ago. His backbone and ribs showed through the near translucent skin; Course, grey hair sparsely covered his body; He was slouching on his hind legs, his front legs (or arms; the creature was somewhere halfway between man and wolf) hanging down, his hands curled into claws. The bony tail and pointed ears were noticeable, but what really caught Harry's attention were Remus' eyes - the pupils were dilated with crescents of almost luminous green, and they were sad and sombre. Harry understood in that moment the saying 'The eyes are the windows to the soul' - Remus' eyes were bare for all. They spoke of his deep shame and resentment. They spoke of his sadness, his pain. Harry knew that look; he had seen it in mirrors – he had seen it in himself.

It was this that drove Harry forwards to his ex-professor, reaching out a hand as he did so. Remus' expressive eyes widened and he dropped to all fours, before slowly clambering towards the pair that stood opposite him. The werewolf's nose met once more with Harry's hand.

There was a slight noise that whistled like the wind, and Harry looked at the place where Sirius had stood. In his place was the large, black bear-like dog again, wagging its tail madly. Padfoot chased his tail for a few seconds and then stopped, looking up at Harry with big doggy eyes. Harry laughed and withdrew his hand away from Remus, instead patting his godfather on the head. He looked sideways at Remus, who had sunk back onto his hind legs, watching them with an amused look. Padfoot barked shortly and bounded over to his friend, gently nipping his arm with his teeth and tugging playfully. He kept at it until Remus unfolded himself to his full height, towering over both the dog and Harry, and snapped at Padfoot's heels irritably. Oxygen couldn't quite reach Harry for a second, before he realised that Remus was just playing and would never purposefully hurt Sirius. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, walked over to the bed, and promptly sat down. Padfoot bounced over to the corner of the room, before padding back with a soft, if not a bit threadbare, blanket in his mouth and offering it to the boy. Harry grimaced as doggy drool dripped on him, but had to laugh when Padfoot pushed him backwards with his paws so that he was lying down and dropped the blanket next to him, acting as Harry's godfather even as a dog.

"Thanks," murmured Harry, pulling the blanket over himself and fidgeting until he could find a comfortable position on the hard mattress. Perhaps Sirius realised that it would be difficult for Harry to sleep in such an uncomfortable bed, for within a second he had leapt up onto the bed, settling himself around Harry, providing heat and comfort for his godson.

Harry had almost closed his eyes when he heard the soft click-clacking of claws against the hard floor. He shook himself awake slightly to watch Remus slowly make him way back to the shadows, head down low.

Harry didn't want him to leave his side. He didn't want Remus to retreat into the dark again. He wanted Remus next to him, even if the werewolf couldn't sleep and was restless – he didn't mind.

And so he called out his name.

"Remus?"

The werewolf paused and turned around slightly to see what the boy wanted. His eyes were enquiring and kindly.

"Remus? Stay with me?"

Harry wasn't even sure if Remus could understand him when he was a werewolf. Probably not. Nonetheless, his teacher turned around and started back towards the bed, his claws sliding against the surface of the floor. Perhaps it was the tone of Harry's voice that told Remus what to do.

In any case, Remus settled down on the floor by the bed, his head on his paws. Sirius was curled around his godson still, snoring already. Harry was content.


End file.
